Truth - or lies?

I haven't seen the offending advertisement on T.V., but I gather from newspaper reports that certain furious parents are demanding that the Mail Order firm, Littlewoods, scrap its ad campaign because, they claim, it ruins the magic of Christmas!  The reason for this outburst is, I understand, that the ad shows a mum putting gifts under the Christmas tree, instead of 'Santa'!!  In other words, these parents are among those who wish to perpetuate a lie!

Of course, part of the problem is that the real meaning of Christmas has been swamped, deluged, and overcome, by the commercialised, materialistic, consumer-orientated, mid-winter festival that is what is celebrated by so many.  That is why, some years ago - and before the days of such ready access to the internet, and the ease with which one may establish a blog - I wrote to one of the major newspapers in support of those who wished to have a "Winterfest".  I suggested that this would be a good idea, as the majority wanted, and sought after, nothing else, and that it would mean, at least, that they would be less likely to hijack the word "Christmas"!  Those who think that some of us want Christmas to be too 'religious' ('Jesus-centered' might be more appropriate!) should take a moment to slowly spell out the word.  The clue is in the first six letters (even if they don't appreciate that a letter 's' has been dropped at the end of the word).  It's not rocket science!

Let the world (i.e. society living with no regard for its Creator) have it's Winterval (or whatever other nomenclature is chosen) and allow those of us who wish to remember one of the most amazing events in the history of mankind - the entering of that same Creator into this world that He had created, having taken upon Himself human flesh, in the Person of a helpless Infant - to celebrate our Christ-mas; without Mr Claus, his elves, reindeer, and sleigh!

By the way, my wife and I decided that we would not lie to our own children about this matter.  After all, when they eventually found out that there is no Santa Claus climbing down the chimney on Christmas Eve, they could have been forgiven for deciding that all that we told them about the Lord Jesus was equally false!  It may not always be palatable, but truth trumps falsehood, every time!